Red Drumhead cabbage

Today I picked all my remaining  red drumhead cabbage.

I picked 5 of them today and another one a week or so ago, all quite small but tight but alas at least one of them has started to flower... see the little flower buds emerging from their red wrapping? (Apologies for the blurrr!)

I could be tempted to grow them just for the beautiful colours they yield,

but they have taken so long and then bolted! Anyone have any red cabbage growing tips?

Must look up some recipes for red cabbage. If they are not all full of flowers then I will have lots of cabbage to get thru.

Winter wrap

How can it be nearly  two weeks since I last blogged? I guess it is because with spring everything is coming in a flurry and I have been busy flurrying. There has been action on a shed, visitors past and impending, trips to Canberra, new fencing, weeds, weeds and weeds, and lambs, lambs and lambs and there has been frantic seed raising activity for the vegetable patch.

But before blogging on spring progress it's time to reflect on the season just past.

Weather
Our first winter at Highfield was remarkably productive considering we didn't really know what to expect weather wise. Here in the Lower Snowy Mountains we had frosts  around the house and the vegetable garden but many fewer and much less severe that I had anticipated.  I suspect that  was due not to the weather around here, but really clever positioning of the house. You see the house and veg garden sits on a small ridge and the real frostiness seems to drain off the ridge on both sides. The frost that we did get  was not very serious, just nipping the tips of the citrus occasionally. I got to the point where I stopped even covering them on the cold nights.

But just as last summer was determined as the hottest on record across Australia, the winter here we considered warm -  an anomaly or a sign of things to come climate change wise?

Produce
Despite the under developed soils and  raids of the patch by chooks and sheep the produce has been quite spectacular. I have bought very few vegetables all winter. Here is a little more detail on the pick. It does focus rather heavily on brassicas - the veg that grows best here in winter.

Wombok Mini
Wow - this is the first time I have grown any wombok and I am in love. They come out of the ground quickly and easily, grow fast and taste great. I even liked the mini version. This little brassica I will grow again and I will grow more of them spaced thru the colder season.

Calabrese broccoli
Good sized heads initially followed by a huge number of side shoots. Really worth the space they take up.

Purple broccoli
Loved these. They grew well and easily and the purple was such a pleasure in the garden. The only downside is the weird colour they turn on cooking.

Cabbage - Savoy
This is an old favourite of mine but this year they were less successful than in the past and I am not sure why. They seemed to do not much for a long time and then bolt to seed... disappointing, but nevertheless I got some
good specimens.

Cauliflower Mini
I got some nice heads of little white tight-curded cauli but in the future I wont grow the mini version.

Romaneso broccoli
Mad lime green spirals and also spirals of purple tinged lime green  - pretty crazy things. I am not sure why they are called broccoli - the plants grow like caulis and despite their greeness (or purpleness) they taste like cauli.  I will grow them again.

Cabbage - Mini
I actually got very little from this crop and not just because they were a mini variety. They took a long time to develop and then bolted. I wont grow these again

Cabbage - Red drum
Gosh - these look beautiful in the patch but have not headed very well at all and have taken so long... I probably wont grow these again.

Florence fennelWhat can I say - these have been fabulous and are likely to be the veg that tales me thru the hungry gap. I have picked them young and slim and now I am picking them fat and juicy. They will always be part of my patch.

Spring onions
An ever-reliable little crop, these have done well this year. I just wished I had had more in the patch early on in the cooler season.

Garlic
There is a big statement about to come here - I have had my BEST garlic season ever this year ( if that can be said before a bulb has been pulled?). I planted Monaro Purple bulbs  which were recommended by my neighbour and they have done really well. The garlic patch is full of thick stemmed garlic which must be building great bulbs below the surface? I cant wait to pull and plait.

Leeks
As with the garlic - I haven't really picked any leeks yet but they seem to be growing really well. I am looking forward to leek risotto.

Beetroot
These have been pretty unsuccessful this year but I suspect  that is because almost all beetroot were grazed off at least twice by the resident wallaby. They have tended to be too woody and too slow to develop. I will
however persist with beetroot because I love eating them. Provided I can keep the wallabies off, I think I can get a good root.

Parsnip
Lovely. This is the first time I have attempted parsnips and I Love them. The Hollow Crown variety have survived the hot summer and have developed well despite the new soil they are in. They have been small but deliciously creamy. There is still more in the ground and I am hoping that with the thinning I have done, I might get some decent -sized roots soon.

Celery
Probably the best celery crop I have ever grown.The plants are massive  and tasty.  I must pick more and juice them stems to get the best of the crop before they do the spring bolt.

Parsley
I have only had curled parley so far producing and these have been incredible. They have really enjoyed the wettish winter we have had and have been a feature of many of our meals and many of my vases. I have made many, many dishes with Salsa Verde.

Peas
Fail... complete fail. I cannot remember a winter without home grown snow peas. Alas this winter I was without these little slips of heaven - the chooks got them.

Brussels Sprouts
This is the first year I have tried Brussels and they haven't really been a good one for me. The little sprouts haven't really turned into tight little balls of delight at all, just flabby, leafy little puffs! I am not sure that I like Brussels enough to persist with them next year.

Special moments

• making cheese - quark and feta
• assisting a sheep with the birth of her lamb
• mist in the mountains
• the steamy grassy breath of our cow and the lick of her raspy tongue
• baby lambs struggling to their little hooves
• baby lambs bouncing
• rain in the gauge
• lichens on  wet wood

Saturday Spotlight on Sunday: Savoy cabbage

When I am late with a day-related post like Saturday Spotlight I first fret, and then realise it is still Saturday in most of the world.

Buoyed with this realisation that temporarily banishes ODC (Obsessive Date Compulsion) and inspired by the royal events of the week, I decided to stroll the patch and report on some of my produce and contribute it to Liz's Saturday Spotlight.

This week I want to tell you about my Savoys. I think savoys are my favourite kind of cabbage. They were the first variety I ever tried to grow a few short years ago, they have a mild flavour and their crinkliness is particularly attractive.

I also like how  the surrounding leaves have a blueish tinge and yet the centre is greener.

I have always found them pretty easy to grow, producing good heads with limited attention. I can't say the same for the Red Drumheads that I am trying for the first time this year - I think they will be pretty unsuccessful.

I think they are adorable but that might be because I am their mother. Here they are all crinkly and wrinkly in their cosy surrounding leaves. My husband and I are particularly thrilled  with this specimen which I am officially going to call George. 

Here is George in his bed before he was picked.

And here is George resting on a chair after the traumatic experience of having been picked. George weighed in at just under a kg - a healthy weight for a Savoy.

Here is George in the arms of his mother. She is wearing typical farm gear, a checked woollen shirt and bushwalking trousers.

Tonight we are going to eat George with some braised lamb shanks and mashed parsnip and potato.

Pop over to Liz's blog to see other people's produce.

Harvest Monday - 24th June '13

It's been a good week for pickings despite the days being short and the mornings very frosty. It's also been a good time to hunker down inside and cook. This last week the pickings have been:

Fennel
Two lovely bulbs. These will be eaten tonight in a wild pork loin dish.

The tops of the fennel were huge - it seems such a waste not to use the tops, but I have never used them before, have you? And if so what for?

I tried offering them to my chickens but they don't eat them.

I cut my fennel bulbs off at ground level leaving the roots in the soil. I find that the roots re-shoot with more baby fennel and that these ones grow on pretty quickly as their roots are big and deep.

Parsley
There has been lots of parsley too, so much so that parsley now features in one of my vases.

Chillies
The frosty mornings have pretty much nipped back my chilli plants and I suspect it wont be long before the plants are knocked out completely. I have been picking chillies - green and red - to make sure I get the most of the produce. Still, when you think about it, it is pretty good to have chillies survive into late June when I live in a frosty mountain area.

Wombok and spring onions
Wombok and spring onions are featuring in many meals, mostly stir-fried and in Asian-style dishes.

What's coming up soon? Purple cauliflower - they are looking so pretty.

How are your pickings?

I am contributing this to Daphne's Harvest Monday.  Soon her blog will feature pickings from around the world.

Aphid invasion!

Never in my life have I had an aphid invasion like this one!

Aphids have been thick on my savoy cabbages, coating the leaves with their greyness and hiding away in the folds of the forming cabbages.

The other day I decided to make a garlic spray and hit them hard.
I didn't note the quantities of the garlic spray I made up but it went something like this.

Garlic Spray

2 cups water
3 large garlic cloves finely cut up
a tiny little dash of olive oil

Pop water and garlic into a saucepan and boil up. You can kind of smell when the water has taken on the garlic odour. Cool a little before straining into a pump spay bottle. Add the olive oil and shake. When the mix is cool spray offending aphids.

Red Drumhead and Mini Wombok

Yesterday I checked to see the results and yay, hundreds, thousands of dead aphids! (I didn't take a photo unfortunately, so you'll just have to believe me.)

Now, one more problem to solve... how to get them off the cabbage. I decided on a hefty spray with the hose - just as well we have had plenty of rain lately otherwise I would hesitate using precious water in this way. This seems to have worked.

Bizarrely, it is only the Savoy cabbages that have been affected. I have Red Drumhead, Mini Cabbage and Mini Wombok in addition to the Savoys in and they are all clean. So what is it about Savoys?

As for my other brassicas, they are all doing well except for those within beak reach of the marauding chooky girls. I have lost three immature cauliflower plants to their ability to peck thru wire mesh!

How do you deal with your aphid issues? How are your cabbages?

aphid-free Savoy cabbage ( minus bloom)

The garden in mid-April - Cabbages

There is a special something about autumn. The sun is still warm but the colours of the day are different and the nip of the morning and the evening is such a pleasure especially after an extreme summer.

I am not alone in appreciating the season, the garden too is relishing the gentler weather and, as a result, I finally have a vegetable garden that is worth showing you.

It is of course brassica growing season and the beds are stuffed full of different brassicas at different stages of development.  Most have been raised from seed on the front verandah, just a few are shop bought punnets.

First, the cabbages.

I am growing several types this year - most for the first time. Red Drum Head is such stunning blue cabbage. So why is it called 'red'? Is it one of those Australianisms? You know where we call people with red hair 'Bluey'?

Crinkly, wrinkly Savoy

I am also growing my old favourite the crinkly Savoy. This is the only  non-Chinese style cabbage variety I have grown before and these are the only cabbage seedlings I bought.

Mini Cabbage

I am also growing a mini cabbage unimaginatively called Mini Cabbage.

As for Chinese cabbages I am starting my second lot of Red Pak Choi  - we have already eaten the first sowing, they grow so fast and are eaten so quickly.

Tiny baby Red Pak Choi

And I have a good number of Mini Wombok in. I went for a mini version as a full sized wombok can be a bit of a challenge to deal with unless you make endless amounts of kimchi (which isn't a bad idea actually, perhaps I will put some more in).

Mini Wombok

Strangely, I have had hardly any cabbage moth grubs at all. Mind you, I am not complaining! I have really only picked off half a dozen grubs and that was some weeks ago now. The Red Drumhead have been completely untouched. Perhaps it's their colour - that red or blue putting the cabbages off the scent or sight?

Which cabbages are you growing this southern autumn/ winter? Northerners, what are you growing for the first time this year?

Later in the week I will show you the broccoli and cauli I am growing this season.

Thinking of winter

When it's 30c plus in February, it's pretty hard to think of seed raising for winter. Still over the last couple of weeks that's exactly what I have been doing. Some things have gone into the ground but most are being raised on the verandah away from tip nippers and Wallabies.

Here is what I have recently put in or will put in soon.

Beetroot - Crimson Globe
Love, love, love beetroot. I already have a few rows in but they have been pretty decimated by the Wallaby who seems especially drawn to the leaves. Now that the Wallaby has pretty much been excluded, I will put some more rows in.

Broad Beans
I will wait a while before I put these into the bed but I will be planting two types - Crimson Flowered and Aquadulce. Most years I have used broad beans as a green manure only, this year I might also harvest some to eat (a little good oil, some lemon rind, black pepper and parmesan I think).

Broccoli - Green Sprouting and Romanesco
I have never tried the Romanesco but they look amazing, all that crazy lime green spiralling.

Cabbage -  Red Drumhead, Mini
Must get some seeds of my favourite cabbage - Savoy.

Cauliflower - Purple and Mini
Never tried purple cauliflower before either...

Celery - 'Normal' and Chinese
The 'Normal' celery was a punnet I bought, the Chinese Celery seeds were provided by Kebun Malay Kadazan Girls -  thank you, they are coming up nicely.

Chinese cabbages - Red Bok Choi and Mini Wombok.

Fennel -  Florence
I have put some seeds directly into the patch and others in seed raising pots.

Leek -  Jaune Du Poitou

Lettuce - Cos
I'll be putting more lettuce in at some stage, not sure which type.

Spring onions - Ishikura and some provided by Kebun Malay Kadazan Girls -  thank you!

Parsley - Curlina and Continental
I find that curly parsley is more suited to dry conditions (thus my new patch) than Continental, but I like to have both types of parsley in the garden.

Parsnip  -  Hollow Crown
These I have put straight into the soil and they have come up quite well. This is the first time I have tried parsnip. I am really hopeful that they will thrive. We get enough frost here to make them sweet like they are in the UK.

Peas - Snow Climbing
I always have snow peas in the patch, they are one of my favourite things to grow and eat. I will also be putting in some climbing sugar snap at some point. I was so impressed by Daphne's sugar snaps that I have to give them a go.

What am I missing?  I will get frosts here but no snow, have I planned on something that just wont work?  I don't have any micro climates to take advantage of at the moment...that will change eventually as things get growing.

What are you putting in nowish for winter? Those in the northern hemisphere, what are you getting excited about?

Take a look at Suburban Tomato to see what she has recently put in.

Spring sum up

It has become a habit of mine to do an end of season sum up.  This is really so that I can work out what the successes were so I can plan for the next season. Also to note things I have learnt. Here is my spring sum up.

Pickings
The early spring pickings were:

• cauliflower
• broccoli
• cabbage
• snowpeas
• celery

These were really my late winter crops maturing in early spring. All these were second or third plantings. The caulis were smaller than earlier in the year and also a little yellowish. The broccoli heads, with the warmer weather I guess, matured faster that the earlier planting, meaning that if you didn't keep an eye on them, they quickly developed past my preferred stage - tight flowers. The cabbage were wonderful and arguably more flavoursome that the earlier season ones? And the snow peas - well they were fabulous and trouble free - but I always find them that way.  I realised I planted far more celery than I needed and as a consequence many went on to seed before I really got to them.

In later spring these crops were coming on:

• radish 
• beetroot 
• fennel

I love the look of all these vegetables - the fat red-purple of beetroot, the bright red orbs of a baby radish and thick green-white bulbs of fennel.

Pests

• stink bugs -  I got onto these quite early , while they were still at their green and orange stage and thus they caused limited damage only
• aphids - these were a bit of a problem on the late broccoli
• snails - hiding in between pots they had regular might feats on my lettuce

What I learnt

• attack your stink bugs early and you will win
• attack them well protected
• fennel, if  harvested by cutting off at the roots, re-sprouts and yields multiple heads of the one root mass
• your brassicas that you plant early and the ones you plant later really do perform quite differently
• transporting plants in the back tray of a ute is not a great idea
• what wind burn looks like
• eggplants aren't as tough as they look
• zucchinis are tougher than they look
• Currawongs are very amusing birds

Special pleasures

• Currawongs - everything they do, even their tanties
• Holbrook poppies
• bright new radish
• blueberries

Big changes
This spring was the last season in my Sydney patch. This small patch has provided such joy. It has been my solace, my quiet time, my distraction and excuse, my place to get dirty, my refuge after a long day at work and the first place I went to after being away from home. A place of secrets, a ritual of forgetting and the occasional tear. Thank you my Sydney garden.

Late this spring we moved to our new patch in the bush.  It will bring so many new challenges - tackling new vegetables, fruit beyond citrus and nuts. There will be things to learn about the land and the very special plants in our protected box grassland. Exciting and daunting at the same time.